Egyptian courts suspend their work

Egypt's Cassation and Appeals courts said on Wednesday they would suspend their work pending a ruling on the constitutionality of President Mohamed Mursi's decree granting him immunity from judicial review. Streets have been filled with protesters since the November 22nd decree granting Morsi freedom from any oversight.

“We are all shocked by the kind of decisions which President Morsi made, putting a lot of the powers into his hands,” said Gamila Ismail, an Egyptian anchor-woman who supported the Arab Spring. “This was extremely unexpected.”

She spoke to Vatican Radio at a conference in Rome organized by the European Democratic Party and Donne e Società.

Ismail compared Morsi’s decree to the actions of Khomeini in after the Iranian Revolution, which marginalized liberal forces who supported changing the regime of the Shah.

She said the world is seeing “Morsi doing things against democracy, or maybe using democracy as a tool to kill democracy. This is what he as done.”

Listen to the interview by Luca Attanasio with Gamila Ismail: